Dear Editor
January 24, 2024 is the 101st birth anniversary of one of Guyana’s national heroes, Brindley Horatio Benn, CCH. Born in Kitty, he rose from school teacher and choral director, to join the People’s Progressive Party led by Dr. Cheddi Jagan, to fight for independence from the British. He, along with his wife Patricia, then Chairwoman of the Women’s Progressive Organization, and other Afro- Guyanese early cabinet members like Ashton Chase and CV Nunes, rejected race politics; and he sought to deepen solidarity among our “six peoples” with his founding of the Afro-Asian-American Association. This commitment inspired him to proclaim in a speech in 1958 as Minister of Community Development and Education, that “British Guiana can make a unique contribution to history only if we weld ourselves into one people, one nation, and pursue one destiny.” It is emblazoned on our coat of arms as our national motto.
Today, under the leadership again of the PPP/C, his vision is becoming a reality as the economic cooperation and development to which he dedicated his life is flowering not only in Guyana, but in the newly emboldened Global South and with the rise of the BRICS +.
Let us celebrate this great son of Guyana’s soil today with the last 2 lines of his favourite patriotic song;
“Just let me rest within thy breast, where thy sweet flowers bloom
Where thy sweet flowers bloom”.
Yours faithfully,
Lena Platt
